Cousin Mary Pops In
by RevSue
Summary: Mary Poppins & Nanny and the Professor Crossover ... When Nanny's cousin comes for a brief visit, life changes for all concerned!


_Disclaimer: I don't own these characters, and I make no money from this work of fiction!_

Cousin Mary Pops In

"Good morning, Nanny!" Prudence came into the kitchen smiling, and slid into her place at the table as Nanny put a glass of juice down for her. "Isn't it a beautiful day?"

"It is now," Nanny smiled back at the little girl. "So your brothers will be coming late for breakfast?"

"Daddy is coming!" Prudence informed her solemnly, "But Butch and Hal were fighting over who got the bathroom first."

The Professor entered the kitchen at that moment, and when Nanny raised her eyes to his, he nodded in agreement with Prudence's words. "Believe it or not. Except I think it was more who HAD to go first. They both wanted a few more minutes in bed."

"Oh dear. Prudence, could you please run up and tell them that today is NOT a day to take their time?" Nanny urged the child, turning back to the frying pan where she was tending pancakes.

Prudence slowly slid off her chair. "Daddy, why do they like sleeping in? I don't. I want to see what's going to happen in the day!"

"Prudence?" Nanny said again. "Please? Come on, spit spot!"

Prudence giggled at that. "Spit spot?" Still giggling, she ran out of the room.

The Professor stared at Nanny. "Spit spot? Must be some English expression!"

"I beg your pardon?" Then Nanny realized what she had said, and said, "Oh, heavens, I can hardly believe it!"

"What?" the Professor asked. Just then a robin flew up to the closed kitchen window and tapped urgently on the glass. Grinning, Professor Everett said, "Ah, the little birdie who tells the news!"

"I'm afraid so," Nanny said, to his surprise. She opened the window slightly and listened while the bird chirped for a moment or two. Then Nanny answered, "I rather thought she might be! When?" The bird chirped again. "Very well, thank you for the message!" The bird flew away, and Nanny closed the window with a sigh, turning back to the Professor..

Having watched the entire episode silently and disbelievingly, he now cleared his throat, but wasn't sure exactly what to say. She hadn't REALLY been listening to and understanding the bird, had she? Yet he remembered she had done the same thing last year with another bird! Or was it the same bird? "Uhhh, Nanny?" She usually knew what he wanted to say anyway, so he just put the question out mutely.

"Well, Professor," Nanny said, somewhat resignedly, "I'm afraid I must confess that we are more than likely going to be having company flying in shortly for a brief visit."

"Oh? Flying in? Should we get to the airport right away?"

"Oh, no. No, I don't think she would use a plane. Too noisy, you know."

"She's not a bird, is she?" he asked suspiciously. "We don't need more animals ..."

"Certainly not, Professor!" Nanny looked shocked at the suggestion.

"Ah, well then, not liking planes, I'd say she must be a Figalilly!" the Professor said with a grin.

"On her mother's side." Nanny nodded.

"So she's coming by balloon, right?" His smile grew bigger as Nanny's eyebrows raised.

"Well, not exactly. At least, I don't THINK so. She says they're rather bulky to store ..." Nanny stopped as Prudence came back into the kitchen, followed by the boys. "Well, it's about time, boys! You'll have to eat quickly, while the pancakes are hot."

"Prudence said you're talking funny, Nanny," Hal said around a mouthful.

"Kindly swallow your mouthful before speaking, Hal," Nanny said, almost severely, "We are not little birds in a nest!" Then she clapped her hand over her mouth. "Oh dear," she said, in an apologetic tone, "I AM sorry. I'm afraid I'm beginning to SOUND like her now. She must be very close!"

"Who?" Hal and Butch demanded.

"Cousin Mary Poppins, of course." Nanny said, turning to look out the window again. "Yes, I see a cloud way up high ... and here comes the wind. She usually catches a ride on it."

"A balloon? This I've got to see!" Hal bolted for the door, Butch at his heels, even as Nanny protested in vain that they needed to eat, and Cousin Mary Poppins did NOT have a balloon.

"Nanny, Cousin Mary Poppins isn't a WITCH, is she?" Prudence asked. "She's not on a broomstick?"

Looking distracted, Nanny shook her head. "Oh, no, Prudence, but, oh, just a minute," She opened the kitchen window again, calling out, "Boys, do come back in! The wind is too strong!" The wind caught the window and slammed it shut. Nanny jumped as the glass cracked across. "Oh, Professor, I'm so sorry!"

He burst out laughing, much to her chagrin. "You're falling apart again, Nanny!" he teased her. "I love seeing you like this!" She looked indignant, but said nothing.

"Nanny! Nanny! Mrs. Fowler's umbrella just turned inside out!" Butch's voice came from the back yard. "She was trying to put it up for Francine even though there's no rain, just one white fluffy cloud that's coming closer! This must be the start of a TORNADO!"

"Your cousin flies on a CLOUD?" the Professor gaped at Nanny, despite his best efforts to not be surprised by anything a Figalilly did or said.

"LOOK!" Prudence shrieked, pointing out the kitchen window to the sky.

The Professor couldn't believe his eyes as he saw a figure floating gently down from the cloud, holding an open umbrella over her head, not the slightest bit ruffled by the wind which was whipping the trees in the yard into a frenzy. Turning to Nanny, he asked, "Cousin Mary?"

She nodded, then corrected him. "Cousin Mary Poppins. Not just Cousin Mary. That's someone else."

"I see," he said, although he really didn't.

Nanny, the Professor and Prudence all walked outside where Hal and Butch were staring open-mouthed as the dark-haired woman, one hand holding the black, parrot-handled umbrella and the other gripping an old-fashioned carpet bag, landed in their backyard on her feet, toes correctly pointing outward. Her hat with the daisies and cherries around the brim and one white daisy standing up cheerily had Hal and Butch gaping in wonder. Waldo was skulking beside the step, clearly unnerved. Without even looking at Nanny, the woman said, in a voice very reminiscent of Nanny's to Hal just minutes before, "Hal, Butch, close your mouths, please! We are not codfish!"

Prudence giggled at that, and the woman's blue eyes turned to her. "Prudence, it is not very mannerly to laugh at your brothers."

Then her eyes raised to the Professor's. "Professor Everett, I do hope you won't mind the intrusion, but it is extremely important that I speak with Cousin Phoebe." Before he could do more than blink, she had turned away. "Cousin Phoebe, it is SO nice to see you again!" She put down the carpetbag and carefully closed the umbrella and placed it on the bag, then stepped forward and put her arms around Nanny, giving her a hug.

Nanny laughed, "Oh, Cousin Mary Poppins!" She hugged her cousin tightly. "You really didn't need to come, but I'm glad you did! It has been almost eight years!" She stepped back and examined Mary Poppins. "You've cut your hair!" she added, eying the short wavy hairdo with approval. "Was Aunt very angry?"

Mary Poppins chuckled richly. "Just what you'd expect!"

Waldo bravely approached and barked a welcome at that moment, and Mary Poppins looked down at him, smiling. "Hello, Waldo. It's nice to finally meet you, too." Whining a bit, Waldo nudged Mary Poppins' hand. "Oh, very well. If you insist." She bent down and shook his paw, then wiped her hand fastidiously on a handkerchief she took out of her pocket. When Waldo gave a short bark, she chuckled. "Nonsense," she said to him, "It has nothing to do with you being a dog, it's merely good manners because I'm sure the Professor would rather not have a mouthful of dog hair!"

Wondering why he was surprised that Nanny's cousin also appeared to 'talk' to animals, the Professor cleared his throat loudly. Nanny turned a chagrined face towards him. "Oh, Professor, I'm truly sorry. This is my cousin, Mary Poppins."

"A very great pleasure meeting another of Nanny's relatives, Miss Poppins," the Professor said, taking Mary Poppins' hand and kissing it gallantly. When he realized it was the hand she had used to shake Waldo's paw, and remembered her words about a mouthful of dog hair, he sighed. Nanny's cousin was very like her, it seemed!

Seeing their father's actions, Butch made a face and Hal rolled his eyes. Mary Poppins ignored them, and smiled graciously at the Professor. "You may call me Mary Poppins." Her gaze went to the children, and she added, "You three may, too, if you wish. I was never one to enjoy being Miss Poppins to anyone, and all my children call me Mary Poppins, actually."

"ALL your children?" the Professor repeated, somewhat dumbfounded by the vision the words revealed.

"Cousin Mary Poppins is a nanny as well, Professor," Nanny smiled. "She's actually the one who got me started in this line of work."

"Oh, I see. And do you hold the same beliefs as your cousin when it comes to references?" the Professor asked Mary Poppins dryly.

Mary Poppins eyed him in surprise. "References? I make it a point never to give references - it's a very old-fashioned idea to my mind."

"Yes, you hold the same beliefs," the Professor sighed. He wondered why he had even thought there might be a difference, when he knew they both had Figalilly blood in their veins!

"Yes, Prudence and Butch, you may help me unpack. That is, Professor, if I might stay?" Mary Poppins asked him, not even looking at the two youngsters who had been edging closer to her.

"Of course." the Professor agreed, thinking she was very much like her cousin in so many ways! "You may stay as long as you wish!"

"Thank you, but I'll only stay until the wind changes," Mary Poppins said.

"Ah! You really MUST be related to Aunts Justine and Agatha!" smiled the Professor.

Mary Poppins nodded, then picked up her carpet bag and umbrella. "Wind is a character and heralds change."

"Mary was my mother's name," Butch said suddenly.

For a moment there was silence, then Mary Poppins said briskly, "And a very nice name it is, too, I always thought! Well, don't just stand there staring, Hal and Butch! You may show me to my room. Yes, Waldo, you may come too. Come along, children. Best foot forward! Spit spot!"

Prudence giggled again. "Nanny said that this morning!"

"Yes, I picked up some of Cousin Mary Poppins' sayings automatically," Nanny said. "She'll stay in my room, Hal."

"Uhh, Nanny, may I have a word with you?" the Professor caught Nanny's arm as she prepared to follow Mary Poppins and the children. "She came on a CLOUD?" he asked, once the others had gone into the house.

"Professor, I haven't seen Cousin Mary Poppins since 1964, when she was preparing to go to a job back in London, England and I was heading for Lapland. Her preferred mode of travel is not really that familiar to me ... I rather doubt she travels long distances on a cloud, though. That would be merely a rest stop on her journey." Nanny patted his hand reassuringly, then turned and followed her cousin into the house.

The Professor stood staring after everyone, then peered up at the cloudless sky. The cloud, which apparently had been merely a rest stop, had vanished. The wind had died down completely. Rolling his eyes, he went into the house, knowing that this Mary might well have the same ability to turn his life upside down as his late wife had had, not to mention his present nanny!

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Mary Poppins put her carpet bag on Nanny's bed, and looked around appreciatively. "Well, first things first, I always say! This room will be quite suitable, and just needs a touch here and there to make it feel more like home. Fortunately I brought some necessities with me. First, I need some place to hold my hat!" She opened her carpet bag and pulled out a very tall hat rack, upon which she placed her hat. Then she set the pole by Nanny's bureau, and turned back to the carpet bag, not noticing the startled reaction of the three children.

"It must be one of those telescopic things," Hal whispered.

Next Mary Poppins lifted out a large, black medicine bottle and set it on the bureau, back against the mirror. "Just in case," she nodded. "Cousin Daphne's homemade Herbal Potion. I carry it with me wherever I go." Then she looked into the carpet bag again, and tsked under her breath. "My rubber tree plant needs water desperately, I'm afraid, and a bit of sun. I'll put it on this bureau for now," and she lifted a huge green plant out of the carpet bag and placed it carefully on the bureau, checking to make sure the leaves weren't too wilted.

"I'll get some water for it, Mary Poppins!" Prudence cried, and ran to the bathroom.

"How did that get in there?" Butch cried in wonder.

"I make it a rule never judge things by their appearance, even carpet bags!" Mary Poppins said. "Perhaps you should take that rule to heart as well."

"But, it's impossible!" Hal said. "Logically, nothing that big could fit into a bag the size of yours!"

Prudence came back into the room just then, carrying a glass of water which she handed to Mary Poppins who poured it into the plant after thanking Prudence.

"Nonsense!" Mary Poppins replied to Hal's exclamation. "There's no such thing as impossible. Hasn't your nanny taught you anything yet?" Mary Poppins raised her eyebrows as she looked at the children and waited for an answer.

"Nanny says you can make the impossible happen if you have a little bit of faith and a lot of love," Prudence said.

"Quite right!" Mary Poppins nodded approvingly. "Oh dear, there really isn't much light in that corner over there, is there? Well, I can change that." She reached in and pulled out a tall, very fancy floor lamp, which was lit! Placing it in the corner, she stepped back and nodded in satisfaction. "A thing of beauty is a joy forever!"

"She's even trickier than Nanny ..." Butch whispered to Hal whose eyes were wide at this latest marvel.

"It must be run on batteries, and be telescopic as well," Hal muttered back, "but all the same, I'm gonna keep an eye on her! You're right about her being tricky! And here I thought NANNY was bad!"

Just then, Nanny came into the room, followed by the Professor. Mary Poppins turned to her with a smile. "I DO hope you don't mind my adding a few touches to your room. One simply MUST travel with all possible comforts, don't you agree, Cousin Phoebe, dear?"

"Well, I've generally learned to accept what is available," Nanny smiled back.

"Hmm. You always were more accommodating than I, I must admit," agreed Mary Poppins. She bent to her carpet bag again, and the children held their breaths as she rummaged. Her arm went deeper and deeper into the bag. "I am SURE I put it in here! Where on earth could it be?" She withdrew her arm and opened the bag wider and peered in, holding it up a little to the light, then smiled. "Ah, I see it, right at the bottom!" Again her arm went in, up to her shoulder.

The Professor's eyes widened. Hal noticed and muttered to his father, "You haven't seen ANYTHING yet! Wait till you see what she brings out of there! Logically, it shouldn't even fit in at all! And that lamp over there came out already LIT! Maybe she's looking for a rocking chair like Nanny's!"

A peculiar look crossed Mary Poppins' face, then she triumphantly pulled out a tape measure. "Here it is! I KNEW I had packed it!"

"A tape measure shouldn't fit in the carpet bag, Hal?" the Professor asked dryly. He hadn't understood Hal's comment about looking for a chair in the carpet bag, or about the lamp being lit, although he admitted to himself that he had never seen that particular lamp before, and wondered where and when Nanny had obtained it.

Hal frowned, but said nothing.

"I want to see how you all measure up," Mary Poppins explained. "Prudence first."

Giggling a little, Prudence straightened up as Mary Poppins held the end of the measure at the floor and stretched it out. Nanny took it from her and went to the top of Prudence's head. Then she looked at what was written on the tape.

"How tall is she?" prompted Butch. "What does it say, Nanny?"

Nanny smiled. "Prone to giggling, heart ready for love."

"What?" Hal gaped. "What kind of measuring tape is THAT?"

Prudence giggled again. "That's funny!"

"Butch, you are next. Come along, spit spot!" Mary Poppins said.

Shrugging, Butch stepped up.

"Don't slouch," Mary Poppins admonished him, and Butch stiffened to attention while the two women measured him.

"Determined, curious, and mischievous," Nanny read. "Well, THAT is certainly true, isn't it, Butch?"

The Professor grinned. "It certainly is!" He began to eye the tape measure with a great deal of interest.

"Hal?"

Rather unwilling, but not wanting to protest too vehemently, Hal stepped up.

"Logical and scientifically minded, but not enough belief in magic," read Nanny.

"A measuring tape can only measure height and length, not character!" Hal exclaimed. "That's just ... ridiculous!"

"But true," the Professor pointed out. Then he looked at the women. "May I be next?"

"If you wish, Professor," Mary Poppins said. "Butch, could you hold the end on the floor for me, please? Cousin Phoebe might not be tall enough."

"I'm not THAT short!" Nanny murmured, but she stepped back and watched curiously.

Mary Poppins reached up and got the Professor's measurement. Her lips twitched as she read the tape to herself first, then she spoke. "Professor Harold Everett, learned once the power of love over science and logic, and is able to learn again."

The Professor looked startled, but didn't say anything.

"How come the tape had his NAME on it and everything, but it didn't for us?" asked Butch, puzzled.

"Because your father has finished growing, and will not be in a different place on the tape next year." Mary Poppins explained. "The names of grownups can be on here, of course, whereas children will change as they grow."

Neither Hal nor Butch looked totally convinced by this explanation, but then Prudence piped up, "Now Nanny!"

"Oh, no, I don't think ..." Nanny demurred, but the children clamoured for her to submit. "Oh, very well."

Butch again held the end of the tape measure on the floor, and Mary Poppins measured her cousin's height. "Phoebe Figalilly, soft, sweet, wise, wonderful, makes the impossible happen with a little bit of faith and lots of love," she read, smiling at Nanny who looked a little uncomfortable.

"See?" Prudence said, "I told you she says that! Now you, Mary Poppins!"

With a faint smile, Mary Poppins nodded and handed Butch the end of the tape measure again. Briskly holding it up to the top of her head, then looking at it, she said with satisfaction, "Just as I thought. Mary Poppins, practically perfect in every way."

Hal gagged.

"I beg your pardon? Are you ill?" Mary Poppins inquired artlessly, while the Professor and Nanny both exclaimed in horrified tones, "HAL!"

"Sorry," the boy muttered.

"I must say, I do think it was a good thing I heard about you all before I came," Mary Poppins said calmly.

"From Nanny?" asked Butch curiously.

"Oh no. No, we've heard from the various relatives who have visited, and Chomondeley, of course, but it was Felicity who filled us all in on the latest when she arrived back in England just a few weeks ago."

"A DOLL? Oh, brother!" Hal was exasperated.

Nanny protested that the boys certainly hadn't MEANT to break Felicity's head, and Mary Poppins reassured her, "No, no, you KNOW Felicity doesn't tell tales. She spoke of the great love evident in this household -- and the special feelings between ..."

"Oh, crumbs, she IS a tattle-tale, isn't she?" sighed Nanny, interrupting Mary Poppins so smoothly that no one else noticed.

"So, Cousin Phoebe, Uncle Alfred is still showing up expecting you to look after him, is he?" Mary Poppins asked.

"Oh yes," Nanny shook her head. "The poor dear seemed to think I needed rescuing as well. Can you imagine? He was quite hurt I wouldn't go with him. Speaking of uncles, how is dear Uncle Albert? Has he had any spells lately?" she asked Mary Poppins. Then she turned to the Professor and explained, "Uncle Albert is another universal uncle, one in Cousin Mary Poppins' charge most often."

The Professor's eyebrows raised. Another Figalilly uncle? Come to think of it, Nanny HAD mentioned an Uncle Albert once. "What kind of spells?" he asked cautiously, wondering if they were contagious. If Cousin Mary Poppins stayed for a while, and Uncle Albert followed her around the way Nanny's Uncle Alfred followed HER, this Uncle Albert would be turning up in California in no time!

"I'm afraid they are, Professor," Nanny said, confounding him yet again, and ignoring his question. "Contagious, I mean. You DO have help with him, don't you, Cousin Mary Poppins?"

"Oh yes. The last few times, Bert has been most helpful."

"Young Bert?" Nanny asked in surprise.

"Young Bert? Ah, that would be Uncle Albert's son?" the Professor asked, interested in this insight into the Figalilly clan.

"Oh, no, Professor. Uncle Albert would never marry. No, Bert is, well ..." Nanny's voice trailed off.

"A friend," Mary Poppins said at last, and her face flushed lightly at Nanny's speculative gaze.

"Tell me about the children you have been a nanny for!" Prudence demanded, tugging on Mary Poppins' skirt.

The Professor cleared his throat, and with a guilty look, Prudence quickly added, "Please, Mary Poppins?"

"Yes," Nanny nodded. "I'd like to hear about your last job in London."

"Well, I had two charges, Jane and Michael," Mary Poppins began. "Jane was older than you, Prudence, although much the same when it came to giggling. And Michael, although younger, was rather a combination of Butch and Hal."

"Did they have no mother either?" asked Prudence slowly.

"Oh, they had a mother. And a father. Mr. Banks worked in a bank, appropriately enough, and was actually made a partner the day I left. Their mother was busy with her own concerns and although she loved the children, she found it difficult to put those aside to tend to her children's needs."

"Did you love Jane and Michael?" was Prudence's next question, seeing the faraway look in Mary Poppins' eyes as she spoke of them. "Do you miss them?"

Mary Poppins shook her head briefly as if to dispel the memories, then said briskly, "Practically perfect people never permit sentiment to muddle their thinking. As I said to the children when I left, 'What would happen to me if I loved all the children I said goodbye to?' It simply is out of the question!"

The Professor's eyebrows raised, and he scrutinized Mary Poppins for a moment, then glanced at Nanny with a skeptical look on his face. Nanny's cousin may SAY she didn't miss her charges, but he was certain she cared more for them than she was willing to admit!

Butch grinned engagingly. "Then I guess it's a good thing OUR nanny isn't practically perfect, because she loves us!"

"Yes, she does," Nanny admitted, frowning teasingly at the young boy, "but if you don't all scoot out of my room this instant and finish your chores for the day, I promise you'll find that I CAN be almost as perfect as Cousin Mary Poppins!"

Mary Poppins murmured, "That's a pie crust promise if I ever heard one ... easily made, easily broken!"

"Not that easily made," Nanny said. "I've had many a failure with pie crust!"

The children started out the door, then Hal leaned back in. "Mary Poppins, did you ever see Jane and Michael again?"

"Actually, yes. I was there briefly when the twins were born, Barbara and John, just a year after I left. Why do you ask?"

"Just wondering." Hal said hastily. "I thought maybe you only had the two kids to look after."

"Last time I saw the family, baby Annabel had just made her appearance. I expect I'll see the family the next time I go to London. At least, some of them."

"When are you going to London, Mary Poppins? After here?" Butch crowded back into the doorway with Hal.

"Maybe we'll all go with her," Nanny said brightly. "Now then, off you go!"

"Yes, I'll leave you two alone for a while to catch up on your lives," the Professor smiled at them both. "It is nice to meet more of Nanny's family."

"Thank you," Mary Poppins said sincerely. "And I am MOST delighted to meet you, after hearing so much about you."

"About ME?" the Professor paused on his way out the door, and looked back, startled.

"I'm sure she means ALL of you, Professor!" Nanny spoke hurriedly. "Lunch won't be long." and she almost pushed him out the door.

"I meant HIM only, you know, Cousin Phoebe," Mary Poppins said, mildly. "Everyone in the family is talking about you because you turned Cholmondeley away and HE says you have fallen hard for the Professor ... and he for you!"

Nanny's eyes widened, but she said nothing as the Professor poked his head back into the room. "By the way, Mary Poppins, thank you for the compliment."

"Compliment? You mean, about Cousin Phoebe preferring you to Chol ...?" Mary Poppins began.

"COUSIN MARY POPPINS!" Nanny choked out, horrified at what the Professor was learning.

"Actually, I MEANT for saying you were delighted to meet me ..." the Professor grinned, and he winked at Nanny before bowing formally to Mary Poppins as he added, "but given the delight of seeing Nanny momentarily at a loss for words, I'll accept the better compliment that you were also saying I compare favourably in Nanny's eyes to her ... fiancé. See you at lunch!" and he was gone before Nanny could refute his statements.

"I'm sorry, Cousin Phoebe. I've been rather at sixs and sevens myself the last while." Mary Poppins sounded contrite.

"Muircheartaigh?" Nanny spoke softly of Mary Poppins' fiancé, who happened to be Cholmondeley's older brother.

"Yes. I must say, the Featherstonehaughs appear to have spoken to both boys, since Cholmondeley showed up here to marry you, and Muircheartaigh sought me to press for a wedding date. One can only wonder at the haste. I keep putting him off because I am really beginning to wonder about love and when I'm with ..." she broke off, then continued quickly, "well, anyway, there are times I feel things I shouldn't, things I have never felt for Muircheartaigh."

"I know. We will have time to talk about this later this afternoon. Let's change the subject, shall we? I do believe I promised lunch would be ready soon... "

Talking animatedly, the two cousins went downstairs to the kitchen and started preparing lunch for the Everett family and themselves.

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"In every job that must be done, there is an element of fun. You find the fun and suddenly the job's a game. You know, all it takes is a spoonful of sugar to help the medicine go down." Mary Poppins nodded emphatically at the children, who, as one, made a face.

"There's no fun cleaning up the kitchen!" Hal said in disgust.

"On the contrary!" Nanny exclaimed. "Seeing everything sparkle again, and knowing that there is still food to enjoy next time!"

"I don't really like things that sparkle," Butch said. "They're sort of girl things, I think."

Mary Poppins began singing softly, "Just a spoonful of sugar ..." as she carried some dishes over to the sink.

The Professor halted in the middle of getting up from his chair, a startled look on his face. Then he sat down with a thump. Not noticing, Hal started out the door, then paused when Nanny said softly, "Hal, listen to Cousin Mary Poppins. What does this song remind you of?"

After a moment, Hal slowly said, "My mother used to sing something like that..."

Scrunching up his face, Butch listened as Mary Poppins finished the song. "I sort of remember it, too," he said. "And I remember she used to say a word that made us laugh all the time. I think it started with an s or something, but I can't really remember it right."

"Hey, I'd forgotten that!" Hal said, startled. He turned to his father. "It started with something like super, didn't it?"

"I only vaguely remember it," the Professor admitted.

"Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious," Mary Poppins said softly.

"That's the word you and Bert ..." Nanny began, but she broke off at the Professor's exclamation.

"That's it!" the Professor cried.

"It IS!" Hal said, awed. "How did you know it?" he asked Mary Poppins curiously. "Mom said her mother taught it to her and SHE learned it from her nanny. Do all nannies know the same words?"

"Hardly, Hal," Nanny tried to laugh. "Perhaps it's an English word, and that's why we know it. After all, your mother's mother was English, wasn't she?"

"How did you know that?" the Professor asked, a strange look on his face. "I swear I never told you!"

"Didn't you?" Nanny spoke carelessly, then she changed the subject abruptly, "Well, then, if you all won't help clean the kitchen, I'm sure Cousin Mary Poppins and I can manage. Off you go! Spit spot!"

Prudence giggled again. "Nanny, you're funny when you talk like Mary Poppins!"

The Professor stood up. "Nanny, I'd like to speak with you in my study, please. Hal, Butch and Prudence, you may show Mary Poppins just how capable you are at cleaning up the kitchen on your own. And YOU, Mary Poppins, may watch them, but not help. Does everyone understand?"

Crestfallen, the three children nodded. Mary Poppins, a small smile playing on her lips, sat down again at the kitchen table and poured herself another cup of tea. Nanny, a faintly apprehensive look on her face, followed the Professor to his study.

Pushing the door closed behind her, Nanny perched on the chair nearest the door. "You have some questions, Professor?"

Sitting opposite her on the sofa, he began, "Knowing how you answer, or rather IGNORE, most questions about your background, I'm not convinced you'll allow these, but I was really puzzling about ..."

"Cousin Mary is six years older than I am, but we were quite close while I was growing up. Until she left to begin her duties as a nanny, of course. In fact, we expect to be sisters at some point in the future since she is betrothed to Cholmondeley's older brother, Muircheartaigh," Nanny began the recital almost in rote fashion, but she smiled at the end.

"Morty?" The Professor almost grinned. "Let me guess. It's not spelt M-O-R-T-Y!"

Nanny chuckled delightfully. "No, you're right. Their parents had fanciful ideas for spelling." She spelt out his name, then continued, "Muircheartaigh is a sea captain."

"On a fishing boat?"

"Good heavens, Professor!" she sounded almost shocked as she denied that. "Don't ever let him hear you refer to his beloved ship as a BOAT!"

"So Mary Poppins is engaged to someone who is also 'here or there' like your Chumley -- only Morty's a sailor ..." the Professor mused.

"Oh no, Professor! A SEAMAN," Nanny stressed. "Mrs. Featherstonehaugh is Irish, and comes from a family long attached in many ways to the sea, which is why she gave her first son a name meaning expert seaman ... and Muircheartaigh lives up to his name!"

"You know," the Professor eyed her carefully, as if he were trying to read her mind. "If your cousin was engaged at birth just as you were, the Fenshaws appear to have it very easy. Nanny, I know that you said that where you come from, arranged marriages aren't archaic, but I can't imagine either you or your cousin, from the little I know of her, accepting marriage to someone as immature as your Chumley appeared to me. Perhaps if Chumley and Morty were to discover they had rivals for your affections ..."

"Now, Professor ..." Nanny's voice had a touch of warning in it, and she stood up. "You must remember that I was the one to send Cholmondeley away for a year ..."

"Is a year really long enough? Can Chumley REALLY make you happy for the rest of your life?" His eyes never left hers as he stood up with her. "I know it's not my place to question your private life, Phoebe," he spoke huskily, when she didn't answer his last questions. Resting his hands lightly on her shoulders, he continued, "I know you said that first day that 'Nanny will do', but there are times like now, times when you have shared personal information with me, times when only your real name sounds right," he drew her nearer as he continued to speak, "times, Phoebe, when I want to throw caution to the wind, times when I look into your eyes and can't think of anything but how your lips would feel and taste if I were to touch them with mine ..." He bent closer, seeing the growing desire which he was feeling reflected in her eyes.

Nanny stared at him, her lips parted, quite aware of the fact that he meant to kiss her but unable to move away. Thinking of Cholmondeley, she KNEW she should retreat swiftly, but oh, she wanted to experience just ONE of the Professor's kisses! Almost imperceptibly she leaned towards him, then the mounting anticipation changed suddenly to an emotion akin to fear, and she stepped away from him abruptly. "I'll get it, Professor! Don't worry, it's not for you."

She backed out the door and closed it softly behind her, then leaned her forehead on it, feeling vaguely despairing. What was she going to do? How was she going to deal with this situation which had been building for some time now? Ever since Cholmondeley's visit, in fact, and exacerbated by Aunt Henrietta's meddling, she had known that her relationship with the Professor was changing. Whether or not it was for the better most certainly depended upon the point of view of the beholder! Just now, the Professor had wanted to kiss her, she knew that. Her whole being had ached for his kiss ... a kiss that should never, COULD never be. Her thoughts continued to race, as did her pulse. She had been so close to yielding to the temptation to delight in his touch! She was supposed to marry Cholmondeley, but she very much feared she had fallen in love with the Professor, and that would never do!

When the telephone rang, Nanny didn't move, knowing Hal would answer it in the kitchen. Then Mary Poppins stepped out of the kitchen. Nanny raised her head and their eyes met. Mary Poppins smiled sympathetically, opened her arms, and Nanny flew into them, hugging her cousin fiercely. After a moment, Mary Poppins whispered, "Let's go to your room, and REALLY talk, Cousin Phoebe."

Once they were behind the closed door of the bedroom, Mary Poppins spoke first. "He IS the one, isn't he?" she asked quietly. "The one for you? It's no longer Cholmondeley, if it ever really WAS."

"I tried to prevent it, Cousin Mary Poppins, I TRIED, but ..." Nanny bit her lip.

"I know." Mary Poppins hugged her tightly. "Believe me, I KNOW."

Nanny looked at her cousin, her eyes wide. "Bert?" Mary Poppins' smile was twisted, and her eyes sad. "Oh, crumbs, what are we going to do?" Nanny whispered almost dejectedly. "The Featherstonehaughs are fine men ... any woman would be proud to be a wife to such a man ... but it seems you and I are not fated to LOVE being that woman! What are we going to do?" she repeated.

"We'll ... we'll just carry on, best foot forward, and take what life has to offer us!" Mary Poppins said at last. "And I'd like to hear all about your Professor." She sat on the trunk at the end of the bed, her back properly straight, her knees together and her ankles crossed as befits a lady.

"Fair enough. I want to hear all about Bert and your time back in London with the Banks' children ..." Nanny made herself comfortable in her rocking chair and smiled wryly. "But first ... how are we going to keep Hal, Butch and Prudence from realizing that you were their grandmother's nanny and that their mother was named for you?"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Meanwhile, the Professor was still closeted in his study, trying to come to terms with his emotions in light of the day's events so far. He had known for some time that his regard for Phoebe had begun changing when she had briefly dated that reprobate colleague of his, Swinging Sam. Putting that down to an impersonal desire to care for all those under his roof, not wanting anyone to be hurt in any way, he had managed to fool himself for a while. Then Chumley had arrived, with his irritatingly jovial manner, and had presumed to steamroller both Phoebe and himself as her employer. The Professor had never been so delighted as when Phoebe had told him that her parents knew that everyone had to lead her own life. He had never asked how she had discovered that, it was enough to know that she had told Chumley she was not ready to leave with him yet. Of course, she had only promised the Everetts a year more, but a lot could happen in a year and now he was ready to make sure that it did! From the look in her eyes just before she panicked and fled, he was almost positive that he had a good chance to woo and win her as his wife, not 'just' the nanny!

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

That night, as they were finishing supper, Prudence begged Mary Poppins for more stories about Jane and Michael. Mary Poppins shook her head in mock exasperation. "I remember the days when it was believed that children were to be seen and not heard!" she teased the little girl.

"That was a hundred years ago! You're not THAT old, are you?" Butch asked, his eyes wide.

Nanny cleared her throat, but Mary Poppins spoke composedly before she could say a word. "You are as old as you feel, no more, no less, my great aunt always said. Counting years doesn't mean much."

"That's what Nanny said on her birthday last year," Hal said.

"We thought she was going to be a LOT older than she was ... we think," Butch confided.

Mary Poppins made no comment about that, just nodded and lifted her tea cup. "To growing old gracefully!" she smiled.

"Hear, hear!" Nanny touched her cup to her cousin's.

"I wanted hear more about Michael and Jane," Prudence said dismally.

"Well," Mary Poppins shook her head, frowning a little as she remembered. "I believe that before I came, Jane and Michael had managed to run off at least six nannies. They were rather naughty."

The Professor nodded grimly. "I've known that sort of thing to happen!" and he eyed his children sternly.

They just laughed. Mary Poppins told them a few more stories, then said, "When I left, the whole family was in the park flying kites."

"WE have a kite that Nanny flew on!" the three children exclaimed.

"Nanny FLEW on a kite?" Mary Poppins' eyebrows rose, and she looked rather askance at Nanny.

"A combination of the wind and the kite and ... well, I'll get the kite and show you!" Hal ran down to the basement and in a moment was back with the kite. "Butch and I made it ... and Prudence helped," he added hastily.

"Let's show her how it flies!" Butch proposed.

Nanny and Mary Poppins exchanged glances, and the Professor tried unsuccessfully to read the expression on their faces. In moments, the family was outside, and Butch had the kite up in the air already.

"Boy, the wind is strong tonight!" he said as the string pulled. "Help me, Hal!"

"Quick, everyone grab the string! We have to stay together!" Nanny said, putting her hand over Prudence's on the kite string and grabbing the Professor's free hand with the other. Mary Poppins nodded to Nanny and put her hands over Hal's and Butch's. Then Nanny twisted a little to where Waldo was whining, and said, "Yes, you may come, too, Waldo. Take the end here in your mouth!"

The next thing they knew, they were all standing in a park dressed in completely different outfits, surrounded by many other people flying kites.

"Cool!" Hal said, looking around at everyone, then down at himself.

"FAR OUT!" Butch agreed.

The Professor continued holding Phoebe's right hand tightly, blinked hard a few times, then said, "I'm dreaming."

Nanny smiled and squeezed his hand gently. "If that makes you feel better, Professor ..."

"Where ARE we?" Prudence whispered, smoothing down the white lace dress she was wearing.

"In the park, of course," Mary Poppins said briskly. "Back in London, England."

"Why the weird clothes?" Hal inquired, eying the women's outfits. Mary Poppins was wearing a lacy white dress with a very full, layered skirt, a wide red sash and red edging on the lace. Nanny was clad in a dress of similar style, but hers was a pale lavender with deep purple sash and trimmings. Both had a wide-brimmed hat swathed with the same gauzy material as their dress to fasten it under their chin.

"Period costume," Mary Poppins informed him. "I DID say 'BACK' in London."

"Wow ..." breathed Butch, looking around with wide eyes.

Just then a young boy and girl came running up to Mary Poppins. "Mary Poppins! It's YOU! You've come back!" They hugged her and danced around her in circles.

"Jane. Michael." Mary Poppins nodded to them. "Kindly do not spin about me, I am not a maypole!" she spoke sternly, but her smile was soft. "How are you all?" she continued when they had obediently stopped in front of her.

"Good! Father is here, too, but he didn't see you arrive," Jane said.

"That's because he STILL doesn't see beyond the end of his nose most of the time!" Michael added with a gamin grin. "But he's trying to learn."

"Where are the others?" Mary Poppins inquired.

"Mother is home with the twins and baby Annabel. Barbara and John have a cold. Too bad you can't give them some of YOUR medicine. That would make them better right away!" Jane said. "Yum, lime cordial!"

"It was strawberry!" Michael disagreed with her. "But it WAS delicious!"

Hal, Butch and Prudence were drawing steadily nearer, Prudence holding her breath. At last she grew bold enough to ask, "Are you Jane and Michael?"

"Yes." the two other children replied.

"Our Nanny is YOUR nanny's cousin," Prudence said.

Just then, everyone turned at the sound of a joyous shout. "Cor blimey, it's Mary Poppins in the flesh, looking more bee-you-tiful than ever! What a jolly day it is today!" The man came up to Mary Poppins and took her hands admiringly. "I'm so glad you've come back to me!" he added, kissing her hands. Mary Poppins smiled shyly back, a flush staining her lightly-freckled cheeks.

"It's good to see you too, Bert," she said warmly.

For a moment, it looked as though the man was going to kiss her, then he seemed to realize that Mary Poppins was not alone. He dropped her hands and turned to Nanny. "I don't believe it, Mary Poppins brought her lovely little cousin, Phoebe Figalilly! We're honoured, ain't we, mate?" Bert bowed to Nanny, then looked down at the little English Terrier by his side who began to bark madly at Waldo.

Mary Poppins winced. "Your Cockney accent really is appalling, Bert!" she said, but her voice was affectionate.

"Maybe, but I 'ave such fun doin' it!" he grinned at her. "Or tryin' to!"

"Bert, it's so good to see you again. Andrew, that's quite enough barking," Nanny said. "Waldo won't be here long enough to take over your territory OR your duties here!"

"Run along home, now, Andrew! Thank you for being here to welcome us, but Bert will take care of us from now on." Mary Poppins patted the small dog who woofed once, then trotted off.

The Professor, still dazed, could say nothing. Bert? Young Bert? The one who supposedly helped Mary Poppins with Uncle Albert? Mary Poppins had had a job BACK in London, England? They were all now BACK in England? Jane ... somehow Jane looked vaguely familiar! Jane and Michael ... twins ... a baby ... Jane Banks ... who did he know who looked much like an older version of Jane? His thoughts whirled, and the only way he could keep hold of his sanity was to retain his hold on Phoebe's small, reassuring hand.

"Wot's with him?" Bert asked in a loud whisper, jerking his thumb towards the other man.

"It's his first time," Nanny explained, and she squeezed the Professor's hand again.

Bert laughed heartily, and clapped the Professor on the shoulder. "Stick around with a Figalilly, Professor, and you'll see much more than this, I guarantee it!"

"Bert!" Both Nanny and Mary Poppins reproved him, but the Professor smiled weakly. Suspecting that Bert was quite right, he hoped he would survive future sights, because he planned to have Phoebe Figalilly stick around for a long, long time if he could! He eyed the slender figure at his side, and reflected that he had never seen her look so beautiful.

Bert leaned closer to the Professor and confided with a wink, "It's a very different outing with Mary Poppins, let me tell you, and when she's with Phoebe Figalilly, whew! Things can happen!"

Mary Poppins tossed her head, saying, "I'm sure I haven't the faintest idea what you're talking about!"

Nanny frowned at him. "Bert, really! Behave yourself!"

"So, where're we off to today?" Bert let the reprimands slide off his back effortlessly. "St. Paul's Cathedral? The fish market? Stratford? Greenwich?"

"Are we really in ENGLAND?" demanded Hal.

"Indubitably," grinned Bert. Then he waved at an elderly gentleman leaving the park. "Ahoy there, Admiral Boom!"

The man stopped and turned, then snapped a salute. "Mary Poppins and Phoebe Figalilly! As I live and breathe!"

"They're here for a quick visit, if you know what I mean," explained Bert.

"Capitol idea!" the Admiral beamed.

"How do they know YOU here, Nanny?" Butch asked. "Have you been here before?"

"Not here, precisely," she said, noncommittally.

"Greenwich is the place to take the lads!" Admiral Boom nodded. "They'll enjoy it. I must go, it's soon time." and he strode off.

"Time?" the Professor asked faintly. His entire concept of time AND space had just been completely turned upside down!

Bert chuckled. "The whole world takes its time from Greenwich, but Greenwich, they say, takes its time from Admiral Boom ... and that's the truth!" He nodded emphatically. "You'll hear him in a moment or two. He's never late! Shall we, Mary Poppins? I'm yearning for another holiday with you! It has been much too long!" and he held out his arm for her to take.

"Jane? Michael? You must hurry back to your father." Mary Poppins took Bert's arm with a glad smile, but spoke to the children. "He will be missing you about now."

Sure enough, their names were roared from across the park. Jane hugged Mary Poppins one last time. "DO come again, Mary Poppins, PLEASE!"

"Bye!" Michael called, and the two ran back to their father, dodging around the other kite-flyers in the park.

"Can we really go to Greenwich?" Hal asked eagerly. "I've always wanted to see where the Meridian is. And there's a really great museum there, too. And a ship we can tour! TWO of them!"

"Of course we can!" Bert said heartily. Then he looked at the women. "Can't we?"

"How do we get there?" Prudence asked.

"Well, I COULD draw a chalk picture and we could jump into it ..." Bert began, but he broke off when Mary Poppins dug her elbow into his side and frowned reprovingly at him.

"We will go by barge down the Thames," she announced. "That way you will see many of the sights of London."

"What's a tems?" Prudence asked.

Bert grinned at her. "A river. Mary Poppins and Phoebe Figalilly can get us there faster than us walking. I'd do a bit of magic meself, but they are much better at it than I am."

"Magic?" Prudence laughed. "MORE magic?"

"Bert!" Mary Poppins exclaimed, sounding quite scandalized. "What ARE you talking about?"

He ignored the adults, and crouched beside Butch and Prudence. "Now then, to do this magic, you have to think about where you want to go ... you, too, Hal ..." When a loud boom interrupted his talk, he grinned and glanced at his watch. "Admiral Boom's right on time, as usual! Now then, where was I? Oh yes, first you think, then you wink, then you double blink ... then close your eyes and jump!"

"Oh, brother," Hal rolled his eyes when the three jumped and nothing happened.

"Bert, what utter nonsense!" Mary Poppins almost snapped. "Why do you always complicate things which are really quite simple? Here, give me your hands." She took hold of Butch and Prudence, then glared at Bert who grabbed Prudence's hand and Hal's. Nanny took Hal's other hand, her right hand still clasping the Professor's left, and Butch grabbed for Waldo's collar.

Nanny smiled at the Professor, thinking he was much like his children now that he was out of his element. He surprising her by winking and leaning closer. "If I'm dreaming," he murmured to her, "I'm going to make the best of it. As Hal said, I've heard a lot about Greenwich and never thought I'd see it with my own eyes!"

In an instant, they were walking onto a barge with other tourists to go down the Thames river. The Professor frowned as he looked around. Suddenly it seemed as if he were in a London much more recent than the London at the park! Mary Poppins and Nanny were still wearing their lovely dresses, but they no longer had the hats on their heads. He and the children were back in their own clothes. He saw a red double-decker bus go by on the street, and was convinced they were in London in the 1970's. They all found seats along one side of the crowded barge. Waldo sat on Hal's feet, panting loudly, and Butch kept hold of his collar in case the dog decided to go for a swim in the murky-looking water. Prudence squeezed in beside Nanny, who shifted to make more room for the child, thereby moving closer to the Professor who was still holding her hand.

"Not only am I going to make the BEST of it, but I'm going to make the MOST of it," he grinned at her when she murmured an apology for crowding him. He released her hand and slipped his arm around her waist to pull her closer still. "I must say, Bert was quite right. You and Mary Poppins do indeed look beautiful."

"Thank you," she blushed slightly as she looked down at Prudence who was staring open-mouthed at the passing sights and ignoring her father and nanny.

"Tell me," the Professor added in an undertone, watching Bert bend in close to talk with Mary Poppins, "they're in love, aren't they?"

"Professor, I don't think ..." Nanny moved uneasily in the circle of his arm, but he merely tightened his hold on her.

"It's all right, you don't have to say anything," he assured her. "This time, I KNOW I'm right! Morty's as out of the picture as Chumley is!" and satisfaction tinged his voice.

Bert assumed a tour guide mode, and pointed out Westminster Abbey and St. Paul's Cathedral. He showed the children the Tower of London and Tower Bridge as they passed under it. "It's what people calls THE 'London Bridge' when they don't know any better." He also passed on bits of historical information about Greenwich itself, saying that, besides being the place where East met West, it was the birthplace of King Henry VIII and his daughters Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth I. "In Greenwich Park, we can see the Queen's House, a beautiful, historic house on which the White House in Washington DC, U.S. of A. is based," he added. "Greenwich has had many famous visitors from Peter the Great through Charles Dickens to Bob Hope."

When the barge stopped in Greenwich at the pier beside a sailing ship, Butch was much more interested in hearing that they could go aboard the ship than entering the small building which told the time at any given spot in the world. Bert promised to give him a personal tour, and Butch consented to follow the group into the small museum. Prudence amused herself jumping over the line on the ground, saying she was in the East then jumped into the West.

After even Hal was satisfied with what he had seen in the museum, they toured the Cutty Sark, then hung over the side of the tea-clipper to view the small sailing ketch in which Sir Francis Chichester made the world's first single-handed circumnavigation of the globe in the mid 1960's.

"That's the Gypsy Moth, it is," Bert said, waving at it. "And just over there, Sir Francis Chichester was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II using the same sword that Queen Elizabeth I used to knight Sir Francis Drake."

"Wow," breathed Butch. Hal's eyes were huge.

Bert laughed. "When he got back from his famous voyage, Sir Chichester is reported to have said, 'Now that I have finished, I don't know what will become of Gipsy Moth IV. I only own the stern while my cousin owns two thirds. My part, I would sell any day. It would be better if about a third were sawn off. The boat was too big for me. Gipsy Moth IV has no sentimental value for me at all. She is cantankerous and difficult and needs a crew of three - a man to navigate, an elephant to move the tiller and a 3 foot 6 inch chimpanzee with arms 8 feet long to get about below and work some of the gear.'"

Hal, Butch and the Professor all grinned at him, but Mary Poppins, Nanny and Prudence were all busy looking at the two ships and comparing them in size. Suddenly a loud clap of thunder was heard.

The Professor looked up at the darkening sky in surprise. "Admiral Boom?"

"Not this time, Professor! London fog. Or, more appropriately, rain." Bert said wryly, turning up the collar on his jacket just as the large raindrops began to fall.

Mary Poppins put up her umbrella, which no one had seen up to that point. Prudence whispered to Nanny that the parrot head looked cross, probably because he had been stuck in Mary Poppins' pocket, and Nanny hushed her quickly.

"I do believe we should be getting home, Cousin Mary Poppins," she said aloud. "Bert, are you coming?"

"Am I invited?" he asked, looked directly at Mary Poppins.

She blushed a little, and bit back her smile. "I'm sure I have no control over your destinations, Bert," she said at last, rather tartly.

He sighed, then said to Nanny, "I may see you later. Things to do here, you know!"

"Thank you, Bert," Nanny said, gratefully, kissing Bert's cheek lightly. "It IS nice of you to take on that task for us." She avoided the Professor's questioning glance, and stepped closer, taking Prudence and the Professor firmly by the hand.

"Well, then," Mary Poppins said, "We'd best be off. Enough is a good as a feast!"

Nanny laughed. "I've heard you say THAT before!"

When the group landed in the backyard again, it was pouring rain. Waldo barked and the Professor started, as if he were coming out of a deep sleep. He looked around and blinked, realizing they were standing out in the dark and the rain in their regular clothing, then he focussed on Phoebe's face. He had to have been dreaming! But why out here, in the rain? They hadn't REALLY been to London, had they? A London in the past? That was ... illogical, to say the least. Yet, Phoebe was avoiding his gaze ... as if she didn't want him to know the truth!

Then Prudence sneezed. Looking anxious, Nanny felt her forehead. Just to tease Nanny, Butch started coughing.

"Come along now, get inside!" Nanny ordered. "Best foot forward! Spit spot!" She grinned at Mary Poppins, and the two chuckled.

Giggling, the younger children ran for the house. Hal and his father followed, and Mary Poppins and Nanny brought up the rear.

"Thanks for taking us to London, to meet Jane and Michael, Mary Poppins," Prudence said.

"I beg your pardon? Taking you to London?" Mary Poppins looked rather amazed, then she pulled out her big, black medicine bottle.

"Hey, where'd you get that?" Hal demanded. "It was upstairs on Nanny's dresser!"

"Yes, it was," Mary Poppins said. "I bring it everywhere. One never knows when one might need some medicine."

At that point, both Hal and the Professor sneezed as well.

"There you are!" said Nanny, and she got out spoons for everyone. "Cousin Daphne's Homemade Herbal Potion can cure anyone of anything."

"Can't I have Uncle Algernon's special remedy instead?" asked the Professor.

Mary Poppins sniffed. "That's only for the pip, the grippe and the occasional slip."

"Right," he sighed.

Mary Poppins poured Hal's spoonful, and he eyed the ruby-red liquid carefully. "It looks like cherry," he said.

"Green cherry!" Prudence breathed as Mary Poppins poured hers. Nanny helped Prudence guide the spoon to her mouth without spilling it.

Butch's eyes grew round as the liquid came out blue onto his spoon. He quickly popped it into his mouth, then smacked his lips. "I haven't had blueberry for a long time! And NEVER in medicine. That's good, Mary Poppins!"

The Professor frowned when Mary Poppins poured the amber liquid into his spoon, and sipped it cautiously. Then he grinned. "Tastes just like Uncle Algernon's special remedy!"

Mary Poppins poured Nanny's spoonful and Nanny quickly swallowed her raspberry cordial, then Mary Poppins poured her own, smacking her lips over her favourite rum punch. Re-corking the bottle, Mary Poppins turned to put it away, hiccupping slightly as she usually did after a spoonful of Cousin Daphne's Homemade Herbal Potion!

"Bed, children," Nanny prompted the Everett youngsters. "You've had a busy day, what with meeting Cousin Mary Poppins and hearing all her stories! You'll have a chance to speak with her again tomorrow, I'm sure. Off you go, now!"

"You'll come up to say goodnight, Daddy?" Prudence asked.

"Of course, sweetheart," he said. Then he looked at Phoebe, saying, "We'll talk in the morning."

Looking innocently startled, Phoebe said, "Of course, Professor!"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The next morning, the Professor awoke and lay still for a moment, wondering what on earth he had eaten the night before to have given him such wild dreams. He had actually dreamt that Nanny's cousin had arrived via umbrella, then they had all flown to England for an afternoon last evening on a kite! It was the most ridiculous dream he had ever had in his life! Wouldn't dream analysts have a heyday with THAT dream? Still, parts of it he remembered quite fondly and very clearly. He had come very close to kissing Phoebe Figalilly. Even now he could remember the look in her beautiful blue eyes as he bent closer, the softness of her hand in his as she mutely supported him throughout the unusual experience ...

He sat up abruptly in bed. Nanny's cousin HAD arrived! That much was no dream, nor was the moment with Phoebe Figalilly in his office! But flying to London? THAT had to be a dream! Imagine, thinking he met Mary Poppins' former charges, Jane and Michael Banks, and Bert. The Professor frowned in perplexity. WHY was the name Jane Banks ringing a bell, and WHY had the little girl looked vaguely familiar? Shaking his head to try to get the remnants of the now-fuzzy dream out of his mind, he got up and dressed for the day. Good thing he didn't have classes until tomorrow ... he needed time to unwind from the night's sleep!

On his way downstairs to the kitchen, he heard whistling, and grinned. SOMEONE was a very good whistler! Then his grin faded as the whistles stopped and voices took up the song in a lively duet ... the song his late wife used to sing while working in the kitchen. He stopped for a moment, waiting for the usual pain to flood over him at the thought of his lovely Mary, but instead of heartache he felt the sweet warmth of lingering love and a gentle release. Hearing someone hurrying down the stairs after him, he turned.

Nanny smiled brightly. "Good morning, Professor! I'm sorry I'm late. Cousin Mary Poppins and I stayed up quite late talking! She must not be accustomed to the time change yet, though, so she's got breakfast ready."

"I thought you were in there with her!" the Professor exclaimed. "I heard you singing with her!"

"Oh, no, Professor! No, I'm afraid I don't sing. Not like Cousin Mary Poppins. She has a simply marvellous voice. I've never heard anything like it. She's a superb whistler, too, as you can hear," she added.

His brows still knit, the Professor walked into the kitchen and looked around. He KNEW he had heard a duet being both whistled and sung, yet Mary Poppins was the only one in the kitchen. Except for Waldo, of course, and the Professor knew that although Nanny and Mary Poppins insisted the dog could talk, Waldo could not possibly whistle or sing words!

"Good morning, Professor!" Mary Poppins turned from the stove and smiled. "Your eggs are just ready, and I've poured your coffee already."

"Thank you," the Professor sat down in his place, the puzzled look still on his face.

Mary Poppins put the plate in front of him and said, "If you MUST know, I was whistling with the bird."

"The bird?" the Professor repeated, incredulously. He swung around and saw a bird perched at the open window. The bird trilled again at that point, and Mary Poppins responded with a whistle. "It WAS a duet with a bird!" the Professor exclaimed.

"Cousin Mary Poppins learned to whistle from my mother," Nanny volunteered. "She's almost as good as Mother, I must say." She got out the juice glasses and set the pitcher of freshly-squeezed orange juice on the table.

"Thank you, Cousin Phoebe," Mary Poppins nodded in acknowledgement of the compliment. Then she chuckled. "But I must confess, I only did it at home to vex my mother. She was from the old school, and firmly believed that whistling girls and barking dogs come to no good end!"

"She and my father were very alike in that respect." Nanny smiled.

"Yes, I seem to remember you saying your father went fishing whenever he was vexed by your mother's whistling," the Professor said slowly. Well, the whistling duet had been explained ... but not the singing! Somehow he had a feeling he wasn't going to have that puzzle explained by either of the Figalilly cousins!

The children erupted into the room at that point, all talking at once. "Dad! Dad! It happened again! We all had the same dream again, Dad! Isn't that weird?"

"Children, settle down!" Nanny exclaimed. "Your father is trying to have a quiet breakfast! He's not feeling quite awake yet, you know. Perhaps it would be best not to talk to him just yet."

"What was the dream?" the Professor asked, taking a sip of coffee and hoping it would help. He gathered that Nanny didn't want to talk about the supposed shared dream, and he was very curious as to the reason.

"Nanny and Mary Poppins took us all to London, England!" Hal said.

"We flew on the kite!" Butch added.

"And I got to meet Jane and Michael!" Prudence put in excitedly. "You know, the ones Mary Poppins took care of!"

The Professor put his coffee down and closed his eyes for a moment. This could not be happening. No wonder Nanny had been trying to steer the conversation away from the dream! What was going on? Could it have possibly been re ...? The Professor stopped that thought instantly. Of course not! It had to have been a dream! Such things defied all logic and common sense! He hoped he wasn't losing his mind. He felt a hand squeeze his shoulder briefly, and looked up to see Nanny taking her place at the table.

"What is madness? To have erroneous perceptions and to reason correctly from them." Voltaire

"Cousin Phoebe and I took you to London, England? Whatever are you talking about?" Mary Poppins scoffed, not meeting the children's eyes as she busied herself at the stove.

"Don't you remember, Mary Poppins? We all held onto the kite and FLEW there! Then we all held hands and you took us on a boat ride!"

"I took you on a boat ride?" Mary Poppins looked surprised. "You must be mistaken!" She put the boy's plates down in front of them.

"No, no, it was TRUE, wasn't it, Nanny?" Prudence appealed to Nanny. "Don't YOU remember, Daddy?" she turned to him.

"Prudence, darling, sometimes ... well, sometimes we dream some strange and wonderful things that SEEM real while they're happening, but ..." Nanny began, looking unusually uncomfortable as she spoke.

"It WAS real!" Prudence insisted. "And Jane was pretty! Just like I thought she was! And she looks like the picture of Mommy when SHE was little!"

For a moment there was silence. Nanny and Mary Poppins looked at each with wide eyes, then Nanny said quietly, "I'll get it."

As she got to her feet and hurried out of the kitchen, the doorbell rang. Mary Poppins turned back to the stove and briskly broke more eggs into the frying pan.

Hal and Butch looked at Prudence, then their father, and Hal whispered, "She's right, Dad. Prudence is right. Jane DID look like Mom's picture!"

Then Nanny was back, ushering someone into the kitchen.

"BERT!" the three children cried at once.

The Professor stood up, startled, and Bert grinned at him. "I didn't mean to take you away from your breakfast, now! 'ow are ye, Gov'ner?" he shook the Professor's hand. "There, now, ye're in luck!"

"Bert, you are in California!" Mary Poppins said, exasperated. "You may drop that terrible Cockney accent. And since you are not plying the chimney sweep trade here, there's no luck to be had from your handshake now!"

"Aw, Phebe, your cousin has no sense of humour," Bert said sadly to Nanny, who smiled faintly. Then he sidled up to Mary Poppins, an ingratiating look on his face. "You don't REALLY mind that I'm here, do you, Mary Poppins? After all, I delivered your messages before I came ..."

"Oh, sit down at the table!" she pushed him back, her face flushing, trying to hide her pleasure in his presence. When he sat down on the chair beside the Professor, Mary Poppins put a plate of eggs in front of him. He took her hand and kissed it in gratitude, and her fingers lingered on his shoulder for a moment before she moved back to the stove.

"We dreamt about you last night, Bert!" Prudence said. "All of us did."

"All of you dreamt about me? About ME?" Bert looked pleased. "I say, that's a wonderful thing, now, isn't it? Dreams are the essence of childhood, I always thought! Too often, childhood seems to slips like sand through a sieve if you've got your nose to the grindstone. How could we all live without our dreams, I ask you now? How could we live?"

The Professor thought back to the dream, remembering how beautiful Phoebe had looked in that purple dress, how she had held his hand and kept him from going crazy ... how they had met two children whose names were still niggling at his subconscious.

As she watched the Professor, Nanny grew more and more nervous, knowing what he was thinking. Yet she couldn't think of a way to prevent what was about to be revealed! "Cousin Mary Poppins, come and eat with us! Eggs are best hot, you know!"

"I'm not very hungry," Mary Poppins admitted.

Bert turned to the Professor and said cheerfully. "Women! Mrs. Banks in London, now there's someone to get to know! Caught right up in the Women's Suffrage movement, she is, saying women should vote, not be stuck in a kitchen! Imagine! Say, you didn't happen to meet George Banks, did you, gov? Shame, that. He's one happy bloke now, I tell you! Amazing. There he was, so intent on his job he had no time for wife nor children. But a little dose of Mary Poppins, and he changed right around. Of course, all the luck he got when all them sweeps shook his hand couldn't hurt, neither! Last I saw him, a few years ago now, he was singing loudly, 'It's grand to be an Englishman in 1910, King Edward's on the throne, it's the age of men!'"

The Professor stared at the other man, jolted out of his reverie. "1910?" he repeated in shock.

"That's what he said, Dad!" Hal confirmed, his eyes wide, as well.

"Gee, Bert, you don't look THAT old!" Butch said.

"Bert, you have said QUITE enough!" Mary Poppins said, almost sharply.

"Indubitably." Bert sighed dolefully. "I'm as mouthy as Felicity, I must say."

"Felicity?" Prudence cried. "You know her?"

"You can't KNOW a doll, Prudence!" Butch said in disgust.

Hal's eyes narrowed. "But, putting aside all logic for the moment, if you and Mary Poppins WERE in London in 1910, Bert, then ... well, Einstein believed that time wasn't a straight line, but more like a river that curved and twisted back on itself. He didn't rule out the possibility of the banks of the river meeting and blending. So using Einstein's theory of relative time, maybe Nanny COULD be 108 years old!"

"Hey, yeah! Just like her passport says!" Butch breathed.

"Hal! Butch!" Nanny's eyes almost flashed blue fire. "I haven't the faintest idea WHAT you are talking about!"

Bert whispered conspiratorially to the boys, "When you add a few years to a woman's age, they're not usually too happy about it, my boy! Drop off a couple years, is my advice to you!"

"Excuse us for a moment, Professor!" Mary Poppins said briskly. She and Nanny each took one of Bert's arms and dragged him out of the room.

The Everetts looked at one another. "Do you think Bert really meant 1910 in that song, or was that a mistake?" Hal asked. "Or just to make a rhyme with the word 'men'?"

"Or are they all REALLY old?" Butch countered.

"I wish Bert had brought Felicity with him. I miss her. She taught me some neat songs." Prudence mourned, paying no attention to the age talk.

The Professor said nothing, and didn't notice the three children going outside to feed the animals in the backyard. He was remembering the look on Mary Poppins' face when Prudence mentioned that Jane Banks looked like his late wife as a child, and he was wishing he knew where to look to find his Mary's mother's maiden name. It occurred to him suddenly that Mary had had an uncle Michael, and he even thought she had had another uncle and two aunts as well, but since they had remained in England when Mary's parents came to the United States, he had never met them, and had forgotten their names, if he had ever heard them. Crazy though the entire thing sounded, he had a strong suspicion that his late mother-in-law might have been the Jane Banks who had had Mary Poppins as her nanny for a few weeks ... a very long time ago. Could that possibly have been the Jane Banks he had met in London ... in the dream? He knew he would probably never find out, and perhaps that was for the best. Dreaming someone he had never met? Yet he'd never HAD such a peculiarly vivid dream! Was it perhaps something in the medicine that Mary Poppins had passed out in the kitchen last evening that had CAUSED the dream? Except the medicine had been after the dream ... The Professor groaned. Now he had a major headache, and he hadn't even finished breakfast yet!

"Professor, do you need an aspirin?" Nanny asked, coming back into the room with a worried look on her face. "Or perhaps some of Cousin Daphne's ..."

"No!" he almost shouted. Nanny looked taken aback, and he sighed. "Sorry. No, it's answers I want, and you don't usually provide those. I don't need any kind of medication."

"Quite right, gov!" Bert said. He had followed Mary Poppins and Nanny back into the kitchen. "No medication without the proverbial spoonful of sugar, I always say!"

"Frankly, I'd like an explanation as to how I met someone in a dream, then he appeared the very next day on my doorstep!" the Professor grumbled good-naturedly. He had never met anyone he had liked so quickly as he had this cheerful man who was very obviously devoted to Mary Poppins.

"It's Mary Poppins 'oo's the one wot can explain, gov," Bert grinned.

Mary Poppins spoke disdainfully. "I beg your pardon? Explain? I would like to make one thing perfectly clear. I never explain anything."

The Professor rolled his eyes. DEFINITELY Mary Poppins and Phoebe Figalilly were related!

Clapping his hands dramatically to his chest, Bert said, "Mary Poppins, you cut me to the quick! Gov, it's strange. I've been trying to tell Mary Poppins here for ages that I love her, and do you think she'll listen to me? No! She natters on about some old betrothal that was made when she was a child. I ask you, what sort of answer is that for an honest suitor?"

"Bert!" Mary Poppins' cheeks were scarlet, and her protest was faint.

Bert looked at the other three earnestly. "It's true, you know. I'm being open and above board. Mary Poppins, I have a question to ask you. Shall I ask in public, or is there somewhere we can speak privately?"

"My office is just around the corner ..." the Professor regained enough sense to quickly show Bert the way. Maybe he should do his OWN question asking at the same time, while the coast was clear!

When he returned, Phoebe was still standing in the middle of the kitchen, bemused. "Did that really happen or am I dreaming now?" she asked. "Bert is asking Cousin Mary Poppins to marry him!"

"That's unusual or strange for some reason?" queried the Professor gently. "I thought you are always saying that with love, anything is possible!"

"But ..." she began.

The Professor put his hands on her shoulders. She didn't pull away from him immediately, and he said huskily, "Without love making this possible, the children would be running in right at this moment to interrupt us." One hand moved down her back and urged her closer. "If this was a dream, you'd be wearing that beautiful purple dress again." Her hands came up to his chest as if to push him away and she opened her mouth to speak, but he forestalled her again as he bent his head to hers, saying, "Without love and all its possibilities, you would probably have four hundred reasons why a Figalilly would never be in my arms, kissing me ..."

His mouth was on hers, gently at first, then with growing insistence. Phoebe was lost in a tide of emotions. His hands slid over her back, his touch awakened her senses so that her entire body hummed with passion. Her hands curled into his shirt and she clung to him, needing the stability as she soared in ecstasy, wanting to never return to earth again if it meant losing him permanently. Oh yes, as she had told her balloon-riding aunts, soaring was a very personal thing!

When he finally abandoned her lips, kissing her cheeks then forehead gently, Phoebe opened her eyes, dazed and aroused, and stared up at him silently.

"This isn't a dream, is it?" he asked, his voice low and deliciously seductive. "You are here, in my arms ... where you belong from now on ..."

Her eyes dropped and she gradually released her grip on his shirt, smoothing over the wrinkles she had put in it. "Professor, I ..."

"Phoebe, please, call me ..."

Her cheeks flushed. "Harold," she interrupted him, "you know that I am engaged to Cholmondeley." She held herself stiffly in the circle of his arms, but her fingers continued to gently caress his chest.

"But you love me," he pointed out reasonably, still holding her close. "and I love you, Phoebe Figalilly."

For a moment it was as if she had forgotten to breath. Her eyes flew to search his, wondering if he really meant it. In spite of all he didn't understand about her, in spite of finding it hard to believe in the power of love's magic over science, he really loved her?

He smiled tenderly down at her. "I want you to remain here with me ... with us. Break the agreement which was made without your consent, and marry me. Please, Phoebe. Marry me now ... before the wind changes so that your practically perfect cousin Mary Poppins is still here to stand up with you. I can call my brothers tonight with the news, get a licence tomorrow, and we can be married the next day. You already have your wedding dress. Perhaps you could convince even your parents to come over. It'll be nice and small, just immediate family and Bert ... unless ... unless you want a big wedding?"

"Would you agree to a double wedding?" she answered his question with her own, testing just one last time before agreeing to his proposal.

He said firmly, "I'd agree to almost anything, and will even believe in your special form of magic without question forever, if you will agree to be my wife."

She smiled and her body relaxed against his in surrender. He DID love her, for who she was, secrets and all! "Cousin Mary Poppins and I sent word to Cholmondeley and Muircheartaigh yesterday that we could not honour our commitment. We wanted to speak with them face to face, but they weren't there ..."

"'There' as in England, or 'there' as in here and there?" murmured the Professor. He didn't wait for an answer. Instead, his hands moved caressingly over her back as he said, "That's a yes, isn't it, Phoebe?"

"Yes," was all she managed to say before his lips claimed hers again.


End file.
